The present invention relates generally to farm equipment and, more specifically, to a device which attaches to a tractor or similar vehicle for towing multiple units of farm implement tool bars.
Until relatively recent times, farm implement tool bars, designed to carry plows, discs and the like, were approximately 22 feet or less in length. This length was limited by the pulling power of available tractor vehicles.
Recent developments including higher costs of farm operation, greater demand for food production and the trend toward larger farming operations, have given rise to technical developments increasing the size and power of tractor vehicles. Larger tool bars have been developed to compliment the more powerful tractors.
The larger sized equipment has the advantage of increasing field productivity and efficiency. However, the newer, larger units of farm field equipment tend to make the older, smaller units of farm field equipment obsolete. A farmer using the older, shorter tool bar is placed at a competitive disadvantage with a farmer using the newer, larger tool bar. Thus, although rakes, discs, etc. mounted on a 22 foot tool bar are structurally sound, their utility is diminished because they are mounted on what now is considered a too short tool bar.
Junking the old tool bars is an expensive and wasteful solution to the problem. Combining multiple units of such tool bars on a single large drawbar is considered a more sound approach.
Draw bar devices which provide such side-by-side use of multiple farm implement tool bars have been taught in previous, less advantageous designs. For example, a single, rigid crossbar may be attached by a bracket and hitch assembly behind a tractor and multiple units of farm implement tool bars may then be attached to the bar. However, such as design will block two or more lanes of traffic when driven on a road and may become unstable when driven at higher speeds.